A COUNCIL criticised by a Government watchdog for not launching enough benefit fraud prosecutions says it wants to avoid punishing genuine mistakes.

The Benefit Fraud Inspectorate carried out a six-week review of Durham City Council because only six investigations of suspected fraud of housing or council tax benefit ended in a police caution, fine or prosecution in the first quarter of 2005/6.

The inspectorate blamed a "lack of management control and strategic direction" and issued a raft of recommendations for the service, although it acknowledged there were strengths as well as weaknesses.

The council's executive director, David Marrs, said it was improving the service and had to balance stopping fraud with processing claims quickly.

He said: "The policy has been to take a balanced approach, believing that a combination of prevention and detection is preferable."

He also said the council did not want to target people who had mistakenly claimed more than they should have, many of whom were elderly people.

Member for finance Councillor Bob Wynn said: "There have been dramatic improvements. There has been an increase in sanctions.

"We have always taken a balanced approach to prosecutions.

"We will prosecute if it is criminal, but not if it is a genuine mistake."

Chief executive Brian Spears said: "It was felt that if we were prosecuting a small number of people we were a poor service, but this report clearly indicates that this is not the case. We have invested heavily to improve administration."

* For benefits advice, read John Gordon's column in The Northern Echo every Saturday.